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WHAT IS THE FINEST WINE IN THE WORLD & WHO DECIDES?

09 Feb 2017

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There are several characteristics consumers look for in a wine. To put it simply, the finest wines in the world are the ones that have the highest number of consumers and the ones that are popular all over the world. These are the two most useful criteria to decide the rating of a wine.

Rating wines can be a little difficult because of certain factors. First of all, there are individual differences. One man’s meat is another man’s poison you may say. What you like most in a wine may be the reason the wine is disliked by another.

Take alcoholic level for instance. Some people prefer a particular wine because of its high alcoholic level and that is the main reason a teetotaler will stay away from the wine. There are several outfits that help to rate wines and wineries to guide buyers. Some of the outfits are Wine Spectator and Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

While these outfits use several criteria to rate wines, the ultimate deciders are the consumers. The best wines are the ones with the highest demand. Truth be told, the reason wines are produced in commercial quantities is to be sold. Of what use is a highly rated wine with low demand?

If you were the manager of a winery, which wine will you produce more? The one with the highest rating or the one the highest demand? It is demand of their wines that keeps wineries in business not the rating of their wines even though higher rating boosts demand. The ratings can only be used as a guide. The consumers are the main deciders of the finest wines.

There are 5 major characteristics of wine and consumer base their preference on these characteristics.

Alcohol level

The level of alcohol in a wine matters to consumers. Some prefer moderate level while a lot prefer high level of alcohol. At the same time, there are consumers who abstain from alcohol as a principle or for health reasons. Those ones prefer either low or zero alcohol level in their wine.

Sweetness

Another quality that every wine has is sweetness. The appropriate level of sweetness in a wine depends on consumers.

Fruit ingredient

The fruit ingredient of a wine plays a large role in the demand of the wine. When you like a particular fruit, you will definitely like a wine made of its flavor. Wines with orange, apple, pine-apple and currant flavors are usually the best.

Tannin or bitterness

Tannin is the ingredient in a wine that gives the tingling bitter taste. You may be surprised about this but some level of bitterness in a wine also determines the demand. Some people cannot take a wine that does not have a bitter after taste even if it has some level of sweetness too.

Acidity

All wines possess certain level of acidity. This is just a characteristic. It does not increase or decrease the demand of a wine.

In conclusion, to underscore the fact that consumers have the highest say in the rating of a wine, 240 international wine consumers who are also experts were invited to Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). And majority of them selected La Moneda Reserva Malbec that currently goes for a token £4.37. Currently, the finest wine in the world is La Moneda Reserva Malbec and it is being produced by Asda.